Altona has broken through for its first win of the season in the NRL Victoria first grade.
After a disappointing season opener, the Roosters have started to resemble the team they had envisaged before a ball was kicked, picking up a draw and a win in their past two matches after starting with straight losses.
Roosters coach Damien Riki is confident his team has turned the corner after its slow start.
“Things are starting to come together now,” he said.
“We’re ticking more boxes as we go along.”
It helped that Altona was close to full strength for its 28-18 win over Waverley Oakleigh Panthers at Bruce Comben Reserve on Saturday.
The return of the Roosters underage Storm representative stars was telling. One of those players, centre Tai Pretty, had a significant influence over the result, scoring three tries.
“He made some real good defensive decisions to shut down their plays,” Riki said.
“This was his first game playing seniors, so he was so excited playing first grade with us.”
Another player returning from Storm underage duty was Pio Nakubuwai. The full-back was outstanding defensively and with his leadership skills.
“He controlled our defence, communicating with them, telling them to stay left or stay right, put even numbers around both sides of the ruck,” Riki said.
The pick of the Altona forwards was Zev John. John made plenty of line breaks and was solid defensively.
Altona still has ground to make up, but is just one game outside the top four now.
The Roosters can close the gap further when they travel to Sunbury Tigers on Saturday.
